Tender Loving Stuff

September 1, 2020 previous posts: 129 + this post 19 = 148

My walks have been curtailed because of seasonal allergies and home improvement projects. I did photograph a few masks on night walks and during bike rides when they are harder to spot. On a short walk to the bakery without my phone/camera, I passed 7 masks.

During the last few weeks of summer, I will post images from past Breath Works featuring masks. A new series celebrating 10 years of Tender Loving Stuff projects will begin with the Autumn Equinox.

If you can’t go to the masks, they will come to you!

August 28, 2020 Laneway behind my home: 1 mask

• 

• 

Plants struggling to grow through cracks in concrete and tarmac are hopeful signs among human cast-offs. They will find me rooting for “Weeds!”

August 21, 2020 Bike lanes to lakeshore: 10 masks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

August 20, 2020 A walk in the dark: 3 masks

• 

• 

• 

August 19, 2020 Underneath the street lamps: 5 masks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

August 17, 2020 previous posts: 99 masks + today: 30 = 129

I don’t usually post 2 days in a row, but I made it past 100 mask photographs in gutters this morning while rushing to the subway.

5 blocks – 6 masks!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

There weren’t enough people in the station to need distancing cues. While I was transferring, I noticed a mask at track-level, but the train came, and I didn’t want to be late for an appointment. On the way home I had just enough time to photograph it and 4 others on the tracks.

Third rail – 5 masks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I walked from the subway on the other side of the street. I was in a hurry to get and wash my hands after a hospital appointment. I might have missed a few.

Return trip – 2 masks

• 

• 

I photographed masks on the way to the park. It got too to dark spot them on the way home. Summer days are getting shorter.

Evening walk – 17 masks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Yesterday I photographed all the gloves I saw to compare the numbers with masks. I got involved with the mask count and left the gloves until today.

August 17, 2020 – 10 gloves (only 1 paired set) and 23 masks

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

P.S. August 18, 2020 AM – I was trying out the new editing system and wanted to check the post again before publishing.

The Total for first 2 months: 68 + this week: 31 = 99 

I told my partner I would quit when I photographed 100 masks in the gutters of our neighbourhood. I haven’t been walking as much because of back aches. I didn’t expect to get this close today on a short walk curtailed further by rain!  

August 17, 2020 – 23 masks! This is crazy!

 

August 15, 2020 – 7 new masks

 

August 10, 2020 –  1 mask

A glove and a mask. The mask still there 5 days later! It’s the only repeat in 2 months of photographing neighbourhood gutter masks.

Monday August 10, 2020

COUNT SO FAR: June 9 – July 22 (6 weeks): 28 July 23 August 10 (2.5 weeks):  40 = TOTAL: 68 

On June 2, 2020, I photographed a mask in a gutter. In the following weeks, the Gutter Masks series showed personal protection equipment discarded after a single and a few pretty cotton masks. I thought the quantity would slow down. It didn’t. Often I walk with other people and thought it might be rude to be taking gutter pictures but some companions enjoyed pointing out masks they spotted.   

Saturday, August 8, 2020 – 6 masks (2 in last image)

Thursday, August 6, 2020 – 6 masks

Wednesday, August 5, 2020 – 4 masks

Monday holiday, August 3, 2020 – 8 masks

Thursday, July 30, 2020 – 3 masks (2 in second image)

Sunday, July 26, 2020 – 10 masks

Thursday, July 23, 2020 – 3 masks

Not masks

In the few blocks near home I’ve photographed Personal Protective Devices in gutters, lanes and roads. I don’t always have my phone handy and sometimes my hands are full, I photographed 28 masks and 4 gloves that caught my eye. Some people do take care of theirs like the people who hang masks from rear-view mirrors. Like everything else, there are always prettier ones to buy.